Tibet and Taiwan not invited to Modi’s oath ceremony

Beijing had perceived New Delhi’s invitation to Sangay for the first swearing-in ceremony of Modi in May 2014 as a prelude to lending some legitimacy to the TGiE and giving it some degree of official recognition.
File Photo/Reuters/Danish Siddiqui

By Anirban Bhaumik | DH News Service

NEW DELHI, India, 30 May 2019

The Government of India has not invited the chief of Tibetan Government in Exile, Lobsang Sangay, to witness Narendra Modi being sworn-in for his second term in office of Prime Minister on Thursday – ostensibly to avoid irking Beijing and derailing efforts to mend India-China relations.

Sangay was among the guests, who were in the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 26 May 2014 – the day Modi was sworn-in to the office of the Prime Minister for the first time. This irked China, which issued a démarche to India, lodging a strong protest over the invitation to the head of Tibetan Government in Exile (TGiE). New Delhi, however, has chosen to tread cautiously this time and decided against sending invitation to the Sikyong (President) of the TGiE for the ceremony to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Thursday.

The Government is unlikely to invite Taiwan’s de facto envoy to India, Chung-kwang Tien, too, as his presence at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday could be perceived by Beijing contradictory to New Delhi’s “One-China” policy. The Ambassadors and High Commissioners of several nations based in New Delhi as well as other foreign diplomats have been invited though. Like TGiE chief, Taiwan’s envoy to India too attended the first swearing-in ceremony of Modi Government in 2014.

Sources told the DH in New Delhi that no invitation had been sent to the office of Sangay to attend the ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday, when Modi and his new Council of Ministers would be administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Sangay is currently on a visit to the United States. No one else on behalf of the TGiE will attend the ceremony, as his office has not received any invitation till late in the evening on Wednesday, sources said.

The TGiE – aka Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) – is based at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh in northern India.

Sangay first took the top office of the TGiE in April 2011 after he was elected by the exiled Tibetans living in settlements across India. A few months later, Dalai Lama, who has been the face of Tibetans’ struggle to free their homeland from Chinese Government’s rule since 1959, delegated his political power to the elected head of the TGiE. Sangay was re-elected to the office in April 2016.

The Chinese Government has been accusing Dalai Lama as well as the TGiE of leading a separatist movement. Beijing has been protesting over foreign leaders meeting Dalai Lama.

It has also been sensitive about visits and other activities of Dalai Lama and the TGiE chief in India and other foreign countries.

Beijing had perceived New Delhi’s invitation to Sangay for the first swearing-in ceremony of Modi in May 2014 as a prelude to lending some legitimacy to the TGiE and giving it some degree of official recognition.

New Delhi decided against annoying Beijing this time in view of the efforts by both sides over the past one-and-a-half-years to mend the ties, which had hit a new low over the 72-day-long stand-off between Indian Army and People’s Liberation Army of China at Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan in June-August 2017. The “informal summit” between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan in central China in April 2018 brought about a thaw in complex bilateral relations.

Ahead of the “informal summit”, Modi Government issued an advisory asking “senior leaders” and “government functionaries” in the states as well as at the Centre to stay away from events attended by Dalai Lama.

The advisory fuelled speculation that India was shifting from its traditional approach on Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetans to avert any complication in its efforts to bring back on track its ties with China. Besides, although the TGiE wanted to hold a “Thank You India” in New Delhi to mark the beginning of the 60th anniversary of Dalai Lama’s escape to India in 1959, Modi Government made it scale down the event and shift its venue from the capital to Dharamshala.

Beijing also nudged New Delhi in July 2018 to virtually re-assert its adherence to “One-China policy” and make Air India to change “Taiwan” with “Chinese Taipei” in the list of destinations on its website. Taiwan strongly reacted, stating that the move by Air India could be seen as a “gesture” by India “of succumbing to the unreasonable and absurd pressure from China”. New Delhi had earlier refrained from reaffirming its commitment to “One-China policy” for almost eight years.

India and China last year had a series of engagements, including several bilateral meetings between the leaders of the two nations on the sideline of the multilateral conclaves.

China on 1 May dropped its policy of shielding terrorists based in Pakistan from United Nations sanctions and stood aside to let the Security Council impose sanctions on the JeM chief Masood Azhar. It came as a shot in the arm for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which highlighted it in its campaign as a diplomatic victory of Modi Government.

Modi is also likely to host Xi for the second “informal summit”, which is likely to be held in October somewhere in New Delhi.

Presidents or Prime Ministers of most of the other BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) will visit New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday. Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand, will send a special envoy to attend the ceremony. Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth of Mauritius and President Sooronbay Jeenbekov of Kyrgyz Republic have also accepted the invitation from New Delhi and will attend the ceremony. Jeenbekov also holds the chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Comments

There are 4 comments so far.

4.

Lelkyhi Tsho, from USA, says:on 31 May 2019 at 8:32 pm

If I am not wrong, the last time our Sikyong managed to sneak into Modi’s oath ceremony was rather suspicious. The truth being: The Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s representative was offered a guest pass which the Tibetan diplomat, somehow, passed it on to the then CTA Home minster Gyari Dolma, who in turn decided to forward it to the Sikyong who jumped at the offer and joined the thousands of guests.

So can we really count that as actual formal invitation?

3.

Mithun Gowda, from Karnataka, says:on 30 May 2019 at 11:41 pm

Modi ji’s decision not to invite Lobsang Sangay the Sikyong of Tibetan people in exile is nothing less than a failure of Tibetan political leader himself to engage with BJP and its top brass leadership in India, including Prime Minister Modi himself. And reason of not disappointing Chinese leader in not inviting for the oath ceremony is just an excuse, what about 2014 oath ceremony then? And what more bigger disappointment for China in foreign policy of India with fact that India has given political refuge to Dalai Lama and his people, and letting them grow in India.

Tibetan Sikyong has been globe-trotting ever since he has been in the office like a leader of any free nation, with abundance of national wealth and have met leaders of various countries except the very leader of the country ‘India’ which has offered asylum to Tibetans and where the Tibetan Government in exile is based.

Forget the higher dreams and promises of soliciting with the Chinese authority for Tibetan people Sir, instead first start from the grassroots and try to convince, engage with Modi’s Government first and take him into confidence. All the best!

2.

gyalpot says:on 31 May 2019 at 8:24 pm

Mithun ji, I believe it is not the lack of trying to engage the BJP or for that matter, any other Indian Government in power. Tibetans have always look to India as our big brother but when our big brother ignores us and looks the other way, what option do we have left? i.e. Thank You India 2018. Also I would like to point out that, the Central Tibetan Administration has never been recognized as an Exile Government nor has been given such a status by India. The reason Lobsang Sangay, is “Globe trotting and acting like a national leader of a free nation” is that the nations inviting him recognize him as the legitimate elected leader of Tibetans in exile. However, India’s view is that Tibetans living there are refugees and are there out of kindness of their hearts and nothing more. Tibetans are not growing in India, in fact many are trying to leaving due to lack of jobs and social status. The “wealth” that you speak of is not income made in India, rather the aid given to the Tibetans by foreign governments and without which we will not survive in India. Don’t get me wrong India is our greatest benefactor, but the funds are not enough to “grow” and survive. And as you suggest, I hope the Central Tibetan Administration will double their effort in engaging in our effort to win the hearts and minds of great Indian people to our cause.

1.

Tibet Bhu says:on 30 May 2019 at 9:44 pm

Many Tibetans will be disheartened that no Tibetan leader has been invited to PM Modi’s inauguration ceremony. It is hard to reconcile that he has invited the Sikyong in 2014 but not in 2019!! Modi has gone back on his robust foreign policy. There may be many reasons behind it but mainly, I believe it is the power imbalance between China and India. Even though India is an emerging global power, it cannot compete with China at the moment.. China’s GDP is five times bigger than that of India. Militarily, the gap between India and China is as big as the gap between China and the US. So, India has lot of catching up to do and therefore feel cautious in its approach against China which has already taught a lesson in 1962. This humiliating defeat has given the Indians a psychological defeatist syndrome that has entrapped them in a cycle of fear psychosis. We have to accept that India has done its best for the Tibetans under a difficult circumstance of trying to help us but also mindful of the enemy’s constant accusations and threats. It is evident that China and India can’t be friends even though they did try during the Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai era. Since Pakistan is China’s “iron brother” and support Pakistan on Kashmir, one would have thought India takes the same course of supporting Tibet as quid pro quo. You have to wonder why India is so cautious when the Chinese are totally insensitive to India’s concerns about Kashmir, Arunachal and the North East region. As grateful refugees, unwilling to displease our noble host, we have to swallow the bitter pill and hope that India continues its good will towards the Tibetans as did the late Indian PM Pandit Nehruji. Nehru respected HH the Dalai Lama as the leader of the Tibetan people and treated him as such on his arrival in India.